


They can do it because they think they can do it (OR The power of Positive Thinking)

by euromagpie



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, wishful thinking noted down idc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 03:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3634899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euromagpie/pseuds/euromagpie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hartley doesn't like a lot of people. But there is one person who strangely enough, likes him.</p><p>(Or, Wally and Hartley were nerd buddies in college until graduation).</p>
            </blockquote>





	They can do it because they think they can do it (OR The power of Positive Thinking)

Hartley leaned an elbow on the counter-top, despondently taking sips of his whiskey, self-pity making him stomach the drink he normally avoided at all costs. The misery also made it so that for once he didn’t take personal offense at the fact that a bar like Harry’s even existed in the first place; it was packed with college students, drinking, flirting, rendezvousing in dark corners. Loud pounding music mixed with the strobe-lighting around the room. Tonight Hartley revelled in it, in the anonymity; he could sit on the bar-stool in plain view without a single person noticing him.

“There you are, Hart. Howzit?”

Well, no person but one, apparently. Hartley hung his head.

“Go away, West. I’m trying to die here” He mumbled. Regardless, a slim body settled itself into the seat beside him. He looked over at his friend, Wally’s face blurred, since Hartley had removed his glasses early in the evening. Wally’s brown skin looked ethereal bathed in the blue and red flickering lights.

“No can do. What’s up with you? You’re actually outside of your apartment during a weekday. You’re surrounded by real people, babe!” Pausing for breath, Wally ordered a drink.

“I hope you realise you’re the reason I get turned off being called ‘babe’ in bed” He muttered into his glass. “Not that I’ll be called anything in bed anytime soon” He added belligerently.

Wally winced at that, taking a swig of something that smelled strongly alcoholic, even over the top of all the other dubious scents permeating the bar. “Ah. I’m guessing Jaime didn’t work out?”

“Raise a glass to the great detective West!” Hartley mocked, draining the rest of his glass in one long, burning swig.

Wally tried the sympathetic approach.

“Hey man, Jaime was kind of an asshole anyway-“

“Look, just, Walla- Wally. Leave it, alright?” Hartley really wasn’t in the mood for empty platitudes that night. The only thing he was in the mood for was getting all the self-pity of getting dumped out in one night, so he could be back to his usual collected self the next morning. Well, after getting over the hangover.

His friend tried to cast around for a new subject.

“By the way, did your application to S.T.A.R Labs work out? That paper on quantum vibrations in microtubules was sweet, man”.

“Hmmm, it had better be, considering how many hours I had to put up with your company to finish it”.

Wally punched Hartley’s arm at the joke. Once again, Hartley pondered how he’d become friends with such a physical person. As well as being approachable and highly intelligent, Wally West played for their college basketball team and ran track. Ordinarily Hartley would have pinned him for a jock and stayed out of the man’s way, but for some reason Wally had taken an immediate liking to Hartley; somehow he found himself paired with the energetic man for research, sitting together arguing about string theory in hushed voices during lectures, eating lunch while Hartley tried not to laugh at his jokes. Hartley liked to play at not liking him, but after three years of Wally being the only person to put up with him for extended periods of time, it was pitifully obvious how much his friend meant to him.

They had co-written the microtubules paper that they were submitting to laboratories they were aiming to join. Wally had already been rejected from S.T.A.R Labs but hadn’t seemed too affected by it; he bounced back from most opposition.

Hartley flagged down the bartender for a refill.

“Doctor Wells sent me an interview date” He mumbled. For once Hartley was trying not to sound boastful. He didn’t want to admit it, but it felt strange knowing there was a chance he wouldn’t be working at the same place as Wally. Shaking himself out of the reverie, Hartley rubbed at his eyes, picking up his glasses off the sticky counter. He turned to Wally.

Hartley blinked.

“Did- what happened to your hair?” He asked. He was sure he wasn’t _that_ far gone.

Wally ran a hand through his short corkscrew coils.

“D’you like it?” He asked self-consciously.

“It’s _orange_ ”.

“Hey! The dye said copper. Keep your highlighter comparisons out of this” Wally exclaimed with mock-indignation.

“But, ignoring my hair, I came to find you for a reason. Guess what?”

“I have no idea, but no doubt you’re about to tell me” Hartley didn’t know whether he was glad or not for the topic shift; tonight, he supposed anything was better than thinking about his ex-boyfriend.

“I got accepted into Mercury Labs!”

Hartley blinked again.

“Have you had an interview yet?” He couldn’t remember Wally mentioning it, and his friend normally couldn’t shut up about big life-developments.

Wally grinned wildly. “Nah. Doctor Garret said he liked our paper so much I got an unconditional offer! I’ve got a place, babe!”

Underneath his blank expression, Hartley was impressed. Out of all the research facilities in the Gem Cities, Mercury and S.T.A.R Labs were neck to neck in physics advancements. Of course Smartass West would get into one if he couldn’t get into the other. Hartley fought a smile.

“I’m impressed. Congratulations”. To anyone else that might have sounded sarcastic, but Wally knew Hartley’s mannerisms by now. He ducked his head, grinning like a loon all the while.

“Man I am going to be taunting my cousin Barry with this for _forever_ ”.

Wally raised his glass.

“Possunt quia posse videntur” He said. Hartley clinked their glasses together, echoing the toast.

 _But positive thinking will only get you so far_.

**Author's Note:**

> Lets face it, this is just a bit of wishful thinking, since I miss the Piper/Wally bromance from the comics. So, what Iw as thinking is they become friends in college, with Wally being able to reign in Hartley's nastiness. When Wally gets into Mercury Labs and Hartley gets into S.T.A.R Labs they start drifting apart. But somewhen during the Flash series they meet up again and Wally knocks some sense back into Hartley and he realises he kinda likes volunteering at soup shelters.
> 
> And yeah, since I wanted Wally and Hartley to be around the same age, Wally is Joe's nephew, and Barry and Iris' cousin. Canon means nothing to me.


End file.
